Five Ken McNaughts

What a depressing amount of stick in these comments for a perfectly solid-if-unspectacular performance from a back-up striker. I saw four mistakes and about three or four times as many positive contributions (a few free kicks, half a dozen aerial successes, lots of possessions maintained with neat footwork in tight spots). And some people seriously saw that as a shocking display? “Pub footballer”? “League One”? “Doesn’t even try”? Absolute nonsense. Like everyone else, I’ll be glad to see Ollie back, but not being as good as Ollie doesn’t mean you’re shit.

Our greatest ever triumph was in a white away kit. How can anyone not like it?

I just saw the VAR official will be Graham Scott. Oh, God. The same VAR official who thinks Bruno Fernandes leaping into the Villa area and recreating that illegal kick on Daniel LaRusso in Karate Kid is a penalty against Konsa. My expectations for even the most basic levels of competence are now an evidence-based zero (if that).

In the same breath that Dermot Gallagher disagrees with the red card, he ties himself in knots with some absolute nonsense: “If the referee looks back and he sees what I’ve just seen now, which he couldn’t on the day, he might have made a different decision.” Eh?!? Asking us to have sympathy with the ref? Of course Chris Kavanagh could have seen that on the day! It was the main angle FFS! He and Paul Tierney in the VAR booth could have watched it in super slo-mo and had a good old chat about it. You know, actually shown some interest in the fact Henderson’s foot was high, he arrived a week late, and connected with Watkins’ knee. Compare and contrast with the level of VAR analysis when the on-field decision goes against Man United, like when West Brom had the cheek to win a pen at Old Trafford. Five minutes of forensic observations later, it is decided golden child Fernandes got 1% of the ball and only 99% of Conor Gallagher’s shin, and a clear-as-day penalty is magicked into a clear-and-obvious-error. i would say the whole system is broken but, sadly, I suspect it is working exactly as was always intended.

It was interesting watching the exchange when Watkins came back to confront Henderson. He held his thumb and forefinger close together as if to say “You know you got a bit of me”. Henderson mimicked the same gesture, suggesting “just a bit”, then waved an arm at the byeline, as if claiming the ball was going out anyway. None of the angry finger wagging when a player knows another has cheated. He knew he had caught him.

Yep...

Two frames of Henderson’s raised boot connecting with Watkins’ knee. Note how, in the second, the keeper’s foot has been moved back by the contact, his knee now at a new angle. (“But Ollie was going down already”... I should hope so too! It’s not his job to drive his quad muscles into the six waiting studs!).

2019-20 2020-21

Can’t think of many players I have ever been happier to see score. I even celebrated like I used to pre-VAR. That’s now 1 goal and 1 assist in about 155 minutes of football this season (or 1.7 games). Not bad.

Great stuff, John! Agree with your MOTM. You also reminded me of some of the good things Martinez did aside from the one (big) mistake.

I think you’re right. Subtly weakened at first. Then more obviously. Then the U23s. Then just the team name with a “B” after it... Unless the Premier League realise this and kick them out first.

108 years ago today – winning our fifth FA Cup against league champions Sunderland. I always think the quality of the footage from that day is remarkable (on Villa Boy’s You Tube channel), especially when played at 75% speed. The cameraman might have missed Tommy Barber’s winner and Charlie Wallace’s wayward penalty, but he does capture some excellent dribbling from Clem Stephenson and Joe Bache down the left, as well as Harry Hampton sticking the ball in the net (2:20 – ruled out for a dubious offside) and Tom Lyons making an impressive goal-line block with his chest (4:30).

Wha? Outrageous! I’ll see you in the Warren Aspinall thread! Sorry, got a bit triggered there. Aspinall’s one-yard winner in that 2-1 League Cup win v Spurs when we were Div 2... fond memory.

Walking football has found its new ambassador.

Almost forgot the mini-rant I wanted to have about the ref (apologies if this point has been made)... Fourth official holds up an additional 5 mins... Liverpool score... Over a minute before play resumes... Ref plays 5 minutes and 10 seconds. 10 seconds for a goal and wild celebrations??? Yes, unlikely that we would have scored with an extra minute, but it would have been nice to have the chance since we were entitled to it.

Let’s take a look at Trent Alexander-Arnold running way off line, ignoring the ball, pushing Trez, pulling Trez, clamping his arm, finally leaving him so off balance and out of shape when he squirms free that he wrecks his knee. Nothing to see here, according to VAR.

Updating some stats I posted a while ago, it appears Keinan’s impact on the outcome depends massively on making the change early: Number of times KD brought on before the 80-minute mark: 14 PL games (since start of 19/20). Villa score following Keinan’s introduction: 7/14 Villa increase points haul following Keinan’s introduction: 4/14 (By contrast, the numbers for bringing him on AFTER the 80-minute mark are 0/9 for goals and 0/9 for points increase. It rather suggests, if you are going to bring him on, it pays to give him 15-20 minutes rather than 5).

Short of bringing on Heaton for Watkins and Taylor for Martinez, I don’t think those substitutions could have been worse.

If decisions about team selection and substitutions always “spoke for themselves” then VillaTalk would be a very quiet place, wouldn’t it? My point was that I believe Keinan’s capacity to alter the course of games may have been under-appreciated and under-used (yes, even by those making the calls). I’ll say this much, Nick. Over the course of our good-natured disagreements over Keinan Davis, you have subliminally managed to convince me that Brian Little really doesn’t rate him!

Between his six minutes at Man Utd on Jan 1st and his nine minutes at Sheff Utd on March 3rd, Davis was fit and named on the bench for all nine fixtures. His game time was one minute in the 3-2 defeat at Burnley.

Interestingly, yesterday’s minutes finally took Davis over 90 for the season. Quite incredible, the scraps this guy has to live off. The first week of April and he has had the equivalent of ONE game to show his worth. Not an easy gig. Also interesting – the two occasions when Davis has played more than 15 mins, we have turned a draw into a win (Sheff Utd: H) and a loss into a win (Fulham: H). How he only got one minute in nine games when the team was really struggling is beyond me.

Davis should get about 3 assists for that goal. Harasses Fulham into going backwards, wins the next challenge, races 30 yards and puts it on a plate for Trez. Bloody brilliant.

Regarding Wes’s aerial prowess, or lack thereof, our new habit of playing goal-kicks short or out to the flanks has got to help him. The way he used to jump under the long ball, claim a shove, then get upset when it wasn’t given... well, it was pretty painful viewing at times (and by “pretty” I mean “very”). With that in mind, I can understand those suggesting the no.10 role, even if he’s never been tried there before (Thierry Henry was a winger – these things are not impossible). The hardest thing in the world seemed to be getting Wes on the ball and facing goal, and no.10 would give him a lot more chance of that. For some reason a few moments in the pre-season friendly at Walsall stick in my head – Wes sitting a little deeper, receiving and moving the ball very slickly in the middle of the pitch. Granted, the weak shot is not ideal for that position, but even allowing for that I’m intrigued by the idea. Let’s face it, the season is now essentially a bunch of friendly matches before a mid-table finish. If I ever saw us trying a 4-2-3-1 with a 3 of Jack-Wes-Traoré I would definitely sit a bit closer to the TV. Might be an unmitigated disaster, but literally nothing to lose.

Imagine totally mis-controlling the ball with your left foot foot, then flicking out your right to ensure contact with the player who was trying to stop the cross (the guy who thought you were a bit better than that!). Harry Kane may be the media’s darling but he sure as hell isn’t mine.

Mixed emotions after that strange match. However – if you want to emphasise the positive – our Premier League points tally now starts with a “4” for the first time since the 2012-13 season (when we finished on a whopping 41). So a little milestone.